Is Alcohol Detox Necessary?

Alcoholism is a common problem in the United States, with roughly 15 million Americans reported to have an alcohol dependence or abuse disorder. Research reveals that alcohol adversely affects the body and disrupts many of the organ systems.

Alcohol Abuse affects every part of the body including the:

Brain

Skin

Esophagus

Heart

Bones

Lungs

Kidneys

Liver

Pancreas

Stomach

Reproductive System

Varying Effects of Alcohol Abuse

In the short term, alcohol misuse can cause euphoria and excitement leading to increased self-confidence, shortened attention span, and lowered inhibition.

Some of these effects are the primary reason why people prefer to use alcohol in the first place – to forget about their worries and anxieties. As an individual drinks, they can have slurred speech, difficulty walking, and suffer prolonged periods of lost consciousness and suppressed reflexes. These are normal side effects of “being drunk” on alcohol.

With prolonged use, problems with the lungs and reproductive system become noticeable. As an individual habitually drinks, the liver becomes more efficient at removing alcohol from the bloodstream, so the alcoholic must consume increasing amounts of alcohol to achieve the same effects, which greatly contributes to alcohol dependency. This results from an increased tolerance to alcohol.

Heavy drinking may also result in dementia and several types of cancer including:

Mouth

Pharyngeal

Breast

Bowel

Liver cancer

Other problems associated with alcohol dependency include:

Memory loss

Stomach ulcers

Liver damage

Vitamin deficiency

Emotional instability

Irritability

Sexual performance problems

It’s easy to see that alcohol abuse compromises the entire body. When the tolerance becomes so severe, and the reward system in the brain stops working properly, addiction sets in. This causes functional and structural changes to the brain. The other organs in the body follow, and it becomes nearly impossible to quit without serious consequences.

When an alcoholic tries to quit on their own, these consequences can become fatal if not properly supervised by a medical specialist trained in addiction medicine.

While many treatment centers will begin recovery without using proper detox protocols, the results can be traumatic or result in death. Worse still, many individuals will try to detox on their own at home.

Even if alcohol recovery treatment won’t take place at a proper facility, alcohol detox should take place under the supervision of a medical doctor. Most of the time, detox can be completed in less than a week, and recovery can begin immediately after that time.

If you or a loved one has an alcohol abuse problem and are considering quitting cold turkey, please speak with medical doctor first. The life you save could be your own.